Recent leases he’s been involved with include a 18,600-square-foot lease for Distribution Solutions at the Franklin Commerce Center and a lease for Carpenter Brothers in Mequon. He joined the firm in 2008 when it was known as Inland Cos. Inc.

Larkin answered questions from The Business Journal on the pace at which industrial deals are coming together and the impact of the November elections on local decision makers.

Q: Are deals for new leases starting to come together more quickly or are negotiations still moving at a comparatively slow pace?

A: “The timing of deals varies from deal to deal, but we are definitely seeing more companies come to the negotiating table expecting to close deals in new locations. Over the past couple of years, there have been a number of new lease ‘negotiations’ that lead to companies renewing at their current locations. There have been plenty of firms that have taken advantage of the depressed market and used other available space and other aggressive landlords in the marketplace to secure a better deal at their current location. As the market tightens up and available space continues to get absorbed, we are seeing less and less of this and more companies actually moving to new buildings. From a timing perspective, it generally depends on who the tenant is, whether they are leasing 2,000 square feet or 200,000 square feet, and if the tenant is part of a large corporation, then it generally takes time to run things ‘up the food chain.’”

Q: With the political environment making some companies reluctant, what do you expect to happen after the U.S. presidential election next month?

A: “We are seeing some companies sit on the sidelines and wait and see what is going to happen. This isn’t the case for everybody out there, but from the beginning of the year until now we have seen some bigger users pull back until they know for certain which way the election will go. How much the national economy will be affected by whoever wins still remains to be seen, but there is definitely an air of caution with many firms.”

Q: Are you seeing any uptick in the market or does the pace of improvement remain slow?

A: “We have seen positive absorption over the past seven quarters in the industrial market, which is a pretty good indicator of the slow rise in the market. There have been some fluctuations on both sides of those numbers with some big positive spikes and some big negative drops, but overall the numbers tell us that the market is improving overall. The fear with many brokers in the industry is that there is no new product to work on.”

Q: Which submarkets are primed to see some new speculative development?

A: “As the market improves we will see continued development in the Chicago-Milwaukee Interstate 94 corridor. There are various development firms positioning themselves to get shovels in the ground, hopefully beginning in spring 2013. In 2012, a few business parks saw well-capitalized firms build new. For example, Germantown Business Park. We have seen a few new large additions to current buildings, but there is a growing need for speculative development and the most natural fit is the Racine/Kenosha area. There are needs in other areas as well, namely the western submarket, which has maintained the lowest vacancy rates through the recession, but as that already tight market gets tighter, there is a need for new product to be absorbed.”

Q: What factors are weighing most heavily on tenants’ choices of location?

A: “The factors differ from business to business. Distribution users would all love to be at the Zoo Interchange or the airport and manufacturers need to be near vast labor pools, so it really depends on the needs of the business. But I really believe that companies are weighing all of the variables before making any decisions, whereas in the past they may have decided to make a move only having covered the majority of their needs but not being able to satisfy them all. The level of scrutiny in making decisions has increased tremendously. That isn’t to say that in the past firms have moved on a whim, but the time and process it takes to involve the decision makers has been stretched out so that companies know they are making the right move for their firms.”